UConn ends DePaul's season
Hard to believe Connecticut had gone six years since its last victory at the Big East tournament.
Kemba Walker and the Huskies stopped that skid against an overmatched opponent.
The star guard scored 26 points and UConn won a Big East tournament game for the first time since 2005, beating DePaul 97-71 on Tuesday in the opener of a conference showcase loaded with NCAA contenders.
Jeremy Lamb, playing on a sore knee, had 17 of his 19 points in the first half for the 21st-ranked Huskies (22-9), who got back on track after losing four of their final five regular-season games. No. 9 seed UConn advanced to play today against No. 22 Georgetown, the No. 8 seed at Madison Square Garden.
UConn beat the Hoyas 78-70 at home on Feb. 16 in the only meeting between the teams this season.
The 16th-seeded Blue Demons (7-24) twice cut the deficit to seven midway through the second half, but Walker and his young teammates held off DePaul and won going away.
Brandon Young scored 20 points to lead the Blue Demons, who lost their last six games following their lone conference win of the season at Providence on Feb. 17.
DePaul closed its first campaign under Purnell with 18 losses in 19 games against Big East opponents and heads back to Chicago after a brief postseason trip to Manhattan.
“We're building a foundation, obviously. Some of our young players did well for freshmen, but they're hungry to be better. We need them to be better,” Purnell said.
Jeremiah Kelly had 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range and Moses Morgan added 14 off the bench for DePaul, which played its final four games without leading scorer Cleveland Melvin.
The 6-foot-8 freshman forward sprained his left thumb in a loss at St. John's last month.
Bowling Green 74, NIU 54:
A'uston Calhoun had 25 points and 9 rebounds as host Bowling Green (14-18) routed Northern Illinois in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament. Tim Toler led Northern Illinois (9-21) with 13 points.
Butler 59, Wis-Milwaukee 44:
Matt Howard scored 18 points and Shelvin Mack added 14 to lead Butler (23-9) to a victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee (19-13) for its third Horizon League tournament title in the past four years.